new house

view over the golf course (straight out back)

looking down the row of houses

a brand new kitchen!

the living room area (still kind of unfinished)

view from the backyard

having my own bathroom is one of the best things

that's ever happened to me :)

large walk-in closet: look at all the space

i'm not using!

the desk- including my beloved camping stool that i

hauled here in my suitcase. at some point the calendar

will get hung on the wall... just hasn't happened yet

my bed (with my beloved shanghai blanket that i bought in urumqi

and brought here. it has many, many miles on it!)

moving...

before january 8, i had moved once in my life: around the corner.

i just did a google search to see how far away edwardsburg actually is from honolulu. the only way i could think to do this was get a google map. so here, incase you are interested, are the exact directions. including kayaking across the pacific:

1. Head southwest on M 62 toward Maple St
Entering Indiana - 2.5 mi
2. Continue on Birch Rd/IN-23/State Rd 23
Continue to follow IN-23/State Rd 23 -4.1 mi
3. Turn left at Capital Ave/IN-331 - 0.3 mi
4. Turn left - 52 ft
5. Take the ramp to I-80 W/I-90 W Toll road -0.2 mi
6. Keep right at the fork, follow signs for I-80 W/I-90 W/Chicago and merge onto I-80 W/I-90 W
Continue to follow I-90 W
Partial toll road
Passing through Illinois
Entering Wisconsin - 332 mi
7. Continue on I-94 W (signs for Eau Claire/I-94/St Paul)
Entering Minnesota -156 mi
8. Take exit 249 for I-694 N - 0.8 mi
9. Merge onto I-694 W - 29.8 mi
10. Slight right at I-94 W (signs for I-94)
Passing through North Dakota
Entering Montana - 818 mi
11. Merge onto I-90 W
Passing through Idaho
Entering Washington - 815 mi
12. Take exit 10 to merge onto I-405 N toward Everett/Bellevue - 3.6 mi
13. Take exit 14 to merge onto WA-520 W toward Seattle - 6.0 mi
14. Take the Montlake Blvd exit - 0.5 mi
15. Merge onto Montlake Blvd E/WA-513 - 0.3 mi
16. Turn left at NE Pacific St - 0.7 mi
17. Continue on NE Northlake Way - 0.2 mi
18. Turn left to stay on NE Northlake Way - 1.0 mi
19. Kayak across the Pacific Ocean
Entering Hawaii - 2,756 mi
20. Slight right at Turtle Bay Hilton - 0.1 mi
21. Turn left at Kuilima Dr - 0.5 mi
22. Turn right at HI-83 - 10.5 mi
23. Continue on Joseph P Leong Hwy - 1.9 mi
24. Slight right at HI-99/N Kamehameha Hwy
Continue to follow N Kamehameha Hwy - 8.6 mi
25. Merge onto I-H2 S via the ramp to Honolulu - 8.2 mi
26. Merge onto I-H1 E - 4.5 mi
27. Take exit 13B to merge onto I-H201 E - 4.7 mi
28. Continue on I-H1 E - 5.2 mi
29. Take exit 25A for King St - 0.2 mi
30. Turn right at Waialae Ave - 98 ft
31. Continue on S King St - 0.2 mi
32. Continue on S Beretania St - 20 ft

total: 4,972 mi – about 15 days 14 hours

so anyways, i moved here on january 8 (only took me about 20 hours start to finish, though, because i cheated and flew!) and am moving again in the morning. rosa found a place about 30 miles west of where we are living now (so that brings our trip up to about 5,000 miles). today was the first time i got to see inside, and fell instantly in love. not only will i have my own bathroom attached to my bedroom (with a big- almost rain- showerhead) i have two closets: a walk-in and one with shelves. this is very thrilling. also- the place is brand new, including the appliances in the kitchen (chocolate chip cookies and blueberry muffins are planned... today i told rosa she'd better up her work out routine- i don't cook low-fat anything). we also have a nice little yard and the location is nice: a mile to the grocery store, about the same distance to the beach. i will take some pictures once we get things settled a bit.

on the job front, training was this past sunday, and i will be getting a call about my work schedule for this coming week on thursday. having income will be a pleasant change from the past few weeks. shelling out isn't very fun when nothing's coming in!

i will probably be without internet for a few days (the internet and cable guy is scheduled to come on saturday morning) but i will get some pictures of the new abode posted asap!

la palma

i love palm trees. what more is there to say?

looking back : winter re-roofing project

i am a project oriented person. driven. for all of my school years, the first day of christmas break, spring break and summer break were sacred. they had one focus: the cleaning of my closet.

but closet cleaning was not my only passion, no, many other projects would be undertaken during these breaks from educational routine.

i was 10 or 11 years old. these years of living with my parents had already molded me into the fore-mentioned driven individual. my brother, trevor, is three years younger, and quite driven as well. he, too, enjoys projects.

so, naturally, over christmas break we decided that we needed to re-roof an old outbuilding that we’d turned into a 19th-century play house. i kid you not, we called it “playing 1812”. at any rate, part of this building’s roof had blown away. we needed to reroof it in order to facilitate quality play-time within.

with this in mind, we donned our winter wear. we convinced trent (6 years younger than i, so age 4 or 5 at the time) that he wanted to join us (whether of not he really wanted to join us was not up for debate).

it was a sunny, though windy, december day. there was a nice layer of sparkling snow on the ground. we collected hammers and our bucket-o-nails, then went out to our beloved 1812 playfort where the scrap plywood we’d found at our grandpa’s and the pile of shingles where.

sometime shortly after we’d hoisted all the supplies up on the roof and commenced in our project, trent decided he was cold.

now keep in mind trevor and i are driven. we are going to work and work until this project is finished- hypothermia or no hypothermia. and today we have this perfect (although chilly) day in which to complete our project! and we have also made the managerial decision that this is to be a group project. a groupie cannot just walk away and forget the project!

so, trevor and i, keeping the budget in mind, hatch an idea. “trent!” trevor yells. “we we’re going to pay you for working with us on this roof!” trent turned around. trevor and i exchanged knowing glances.

trent helped us finish the roof that day. and we did pay him. 

a dime.

planes

so yesterday i went over to my new town to talk with my new manager at my new job. after the meeting i got a jamba juice for lunch and walked around a bookstore. then i hopped on another bus to go back towards home.

i guess every other time i’ve been over that way i’ve been on the wrong side of the bus or just not paying attention, because i never noticed that the airport is right there on the one side of the highway.

every time i’ve ever traveled anywhere, it’s been on a two-way ticket. regardless of whether i wanted to leave or not, there was always that ticket in my pocket forcing me to go. so on these trips, i was always counting down. planes were a reminder that in a few days or weeks i’d be leaving.

for many years, i’ve slept with the blinds in my windows rolled all the way up, so i could look out into the sky as i lay in bed. i would watch the planes blink-blink-blink across the sky, wondering where they’d come from and where they were going. sometimes i was envious- they were going and coming and i was laying still.

so when i saw the planes at the airport i instinctively thought, i need to count down and figure out how much time i have left here.

and then it hit me.

i bought a one-way ticket.

and i sighed this sigh of relief. because i’m not very sure that i want to leave any time soon.

sunset

ko'olina/ewa beach

on saturday we went to ko'olina's lagoons with some friends, and later to a beach in ewa beach. the waves were impressive and the weather was perfect which equates to gorgeous pictures- no editing required!

eerie

weather phenomenon are treated differently here. for example: friday we had very high winds. and it was going to be COLD*.the weather man made it sound like we were all most definitely going to die. all schools were cancelled. but at the end of the day, all we had were these amazing clouds falling down the mountains.

*hawaiian definition of cold: you would be cold if the wind was blowing and you were soaking wet.

aloha

9 days

between the 8 members of my family, it wasn't hard to down 2 gallons of milk in a day. so when i came here alone, i was interested to see how long it would take me to finish one gallon of milk. 9 days.

public transportation

hawaii is great for a variety of reasons. one is public transportation.

growing up where i did, we had to drive miles and miles to find any semblance to civilization. upon arriving at the age of 16 there was no question, you were going to acquire a car- this was vital to survival. here in the islands of aloha, this is not necessarily true. one can be fully mobile and not own a vehicle.

because of my penny-pinching and commitment-phobic tendencies, public transportation has been an easy choice. easy except that i’ve never done it before.

there is a very steep learning curve when one decides to learn the bus system. one must determine where to get on and off, and how to connect to other busses going other places. it is utterly confusing to me. i really only know two things: bus 23 stops across from the safeway and goes to ala moana, and bus 1l loads at my corner and goes downtown to a variety of places like chinatown and the art museum.

although it takes twice as long to get places, i am learning to love public transportation. you see, i enjoy listening and observing. this is why i read nonfiction- i must know what other people are thinking (who cares what some fictional character thinks or says- they are not real!). my agreeing with them is not the point, hearing their stories and thoughts and ideas is. so i sit there on the bus and traverse oahu, watching the scenery roll by and listening.

today there was a 20 year old guy on the bus who is working a landscaping job (he loves it), spent half of his life in new york, and had some pretty distinct opinions regarding each and every war the united states has every been involved in. i think actually talking to him would drive me up the wall. but listening to him carry on with the dear soul he was sharing a seat with, was fascinating.

there was a girl with thick, black hair down to her knees.

and tourists, who generally have no idea where they are going. they all wear very overtly hawaiian clothing and travel in herds. they have children- too young to endure flying all the way to hawaii with in my humble opinion- in tow.

today i happened to be on the right bus at the right time for all the high and middle school students to be going home. middle school boys are the same no matter where you go. this one boy was carrying around this large metal pole (read: potential weapon) that was bent at both ends (i think it may be a skateboard jump of some sort). their laughter and body language reminded me distinctly of many middle school boys from the burg.

the busses are a favorite for the elderly. i have decided that i would like to age into an old asian woman. they are just so tiny and thin but sturdy and most caucasian women don’t stand a chance at ever being that put together in old age. i estimate that these women are no less than 10 years older than they look. the fact that they run to catch the bus is very admirable as well, something to strive for, should i not come down with alzheimer’s by age 50.

someday, when i win the lottery that i don’t play, i’ll buy a car. until then, i’ll just sit and listen and watch oahu roll by, thanking God for this beautiful, rectangular creation: the bus.

job

guess who is employed?

i should start training within 10 days, which is great timing considering our move coming up on the 27-28th. (i would be starting training sooner, except that i will not be training at our local store, instead at the store closer to the new place, where i will be working- but is farther away right now.)

question

from lesa: "why are you in hawaii?"

answer: because this is where i want to be. i finished school and decided that i had no desire to endure another winter in the midwest. i came to hawaii in 2007 on my way to urumqi, and i am living with a friend from that trip. right now i am looking out at a gorgeous sunset over the pacific with a fabulous breeze blowing in through the windows and there's no where else i'd rather be!

as for a job, i interviewed on friday and saturday and am just waiting for The Call. hopefully i will have a good answer on that front tomorrow :). what complicates my job search is that we are moving to the other side of the city/island on the 28th, so if i get the aforementioned job, i will have to transfer to a different store which shouldn't be a big deal with this company. 

if anyone else has a question, feel free to comment :).

last night's sunset

i made it

it is currently just after 6:30am here in oahu, which makes it 11:30am back home, which makes me wide awake. i took the pictures as our plane was descending into honolulu yesterday. yes, the water is really that blue :).

post #1

i am moving to hawaii in 5 days.

'nough said.